Connecticut lawmakers will continue to push for halfway house for women in Greater New Haven

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NEW HAVEN >> A person’s return to society after incarceration is rife with roadblocks, as many face immediate concerns about employment or even basic housing after their release.

As state Rep. Robyn Porter, D-New Haven, points out, these issues can be compounded for a female ex-offender who is attempting to get her life back on track.

“Women come with a lot of needs, especially if they’re moms,” Porter said. “Women get left out of the picture.”

Local lawmakers attempted to address the needs of female ex-offenders by introducing a bill that would establish a halfway house in New Haven for women in the region.

Porter was among an eight-member delegation of local state lawmakers that co-introduced the bill (HB No. 5204), including Reps. Juan Candelaria, Patricia Dillon, Roland Lemar, Robert Megna, and Toni Walker, and state Sen. Gary Winfield, all D-New Haven, and Rep. Louis Esposito, D-West Haven.

Porter said the bill failed to move forward for consideration to the Judiciary Committee, where Porter is a member, effectively meaning the bill is dead. The lawmakers won’t have a chance to reintroduce the bill until next year, though Porter made it clear she intends to continue seeking establishment of the facility.

But, “they’re two different things,” Porter said, referencing transition and halfway houses. “A halfway house would be for people released from DOC, (and) transitioning to the community.”

Project MORE President and CEO Dennis Daniels said Thursday that clients in the Virginia Wells House stay there for about three to six months.

“It’s been in existence since 1986,” Daniels said. “It’s the only transitional house in the state of Connecticut (for women).”

Mike Lawlor, state undersecretary for criminal justice policy and planning, said there are 1,470 women under the supervision of the state Department of Correction, including 1,044 incarcerated at the state’s only prison for women, York Correctional Institution. The remaining 436 are under community supervision with parole officers. At least 19 women under community supervision have New Haven addresses listed, Lawlor said. York has 69 inmates listing New Haven addresses.

“There’s all these different types of facilities,” Lawlor said. “Some are operated by DOC, (the Department of) Mental Health and Addiction Services and other agencies. Other are funded by the court support system.”

Lawlor said the state helps to fund about 1,000 beds for male and female ex-offenders throughout the state; some offenders receive help from multiple agencies, such as DMHAS and DOC, for example, which means its can be unclear how many people are benefiting from each program. He said he’s not sure how many of the 1,000 beds are reserved for women.

New Haven Mayor Toni Harp said in a statement this week that the local legislators’ initiative is consistent with other programs launched by her administration to assist the re-entry population.

“A facility of this type for women returning from incarceration would certainly address several of their immediate needs in terms of shelter, structure during a transition period, and support from peers and specially trained staff,” Harp said in the statement.

Porter said some women who begin re-entry have difficult time finding housing. When an individual is released and their family members receive federal housing assistance, for instance, they’re not allowed to stay at that person’s home, which is problematic, Porter said.

“Many people aren’t able to come straight from prison and come home,” Porter said. “I think a halfway house is pivotal in helping them with those first steps after they’re released.”

The bill’s death means the Judiciary Committee, which would have considered the bill because it would require funding from DOC, didn’t get far enough on discussions pertaining to possible costs or sites for the facility. Porter said, however, that the house also would have a “fiscal impact,” which could have been a hard sell given the state’s current fiscal woes.

Malloy Wednesday also touted findings from a new national report published by the Pew Charitable Trust published the same day that suggests the state’s approach to its criminal justice system is reducing crime. The state ranked 13th in a metric called the “punishment rate” developed by the research agency that compares the number of people in prison to the rate of the crime for crimes such as homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle thefts, according to a release from Malloy’s office.

However, the same study showed the state’s punishment rate increased by 318 percent from 1983 to 2013 — making it the third-highest increase among the 50 states. The report shows every state experienced an increase over that time span.

Malloy said in the release that the report “validates” the state’s approach.

A halfway house includes 24-hour monitoring and usually includes a work-release program that requires individuals find employment, Daniels said. Project MORE currently operates a halfway house for men. Daniels said his organization introduced a proposal for a halfway house for women before, but the state appeared more interested in providing mental health facilities first. He said there’s a need to provide such a place for women and that the organization will continue waiting on the state to provide such a facility.

“There’s no place for them to go,” Daniels said. “There might be some scattered — I can’t even say ‘scattered’ housing because they have to be monitored. There’s no facility around.”